Death is only the Beginning
by DracoCorvus
Summary: Another take on the crash of the infamous Oceanic Flight 815. This time, there is a new girl with a frightening past and an even more frightening secret that could turn the whole island upside down.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note/Declaimer: I know all of you arte intelligent people. And I also know that you know that I don't own Lost or anything affiliate with it. I just have to mention it so that you don't try to sue me for all I'm worth- which is not very much actually.

So, this story takes place from the time of the crash hopefully to the end of the first season. If I get good reviews then maybe I'll even make a sequel covering season two**. I will be messing with the story line a bit, so don't get mad at me if I add something, or do not mention something**. You have been warmed. I can't cover all aspects of the series and I will make some changes to it. Thanks and enjoy! I split the first chapter into two parts because it was kind of long. So here's the first part of the first chapter……..

Chapter One: What Happened on the Beach (Part 1)

"_Get up you damn girl!" _

"_What do you want from me?" Ryan cried, crawling on the ground, edging towards the doorway. Tears created two wet streaks running down her face and her eyes were wild with fear._

"_I said get up!" The man advanced towards her, cowering over her tiny, young body, a knife clutched in his right hand, anger shining through his every action, every word. Ryan backed up against the door, her hand groping- searching for the doorknob. _

"_I've given you everything- I don't have anything else" she screamed as her searching hand felt cold metal. Thank god for small miracles. She pried the door open just as the burning knife sliced her cheek. Blood streamed down her face and she crawled into the hallway, tasting the warm, metallic taste of blood in her mouth. _

"_I said get up you bitch!" he cried as he ran into the hallway after her "Get up!"_

Ryan sprung up, her hands clenched in fists, ready to fight. It took her a few seconds to realize that she wasn't in the Sydney Hotel anymore, but on a….beach. She looked wildly around her, wondering how the hell she got here. All around here there were people, dead, alive, injured- like a scene from those horror movies that she loved to watch. Only this wasn't a movie….this was startlingly real. Ryan fell back onto the sand, trying to remember what happened to her. There was that night in the hotel. She had left, left him, lefty her life, left everything behind and… got on a flight. She remembered then the next sequence of events with startling clarity. She had hitched a ride to the airport and asked them to give her a ticket to the flight that was leaving the soonest. She didn't care where it was to; she would have gone anywhere as long as it got her away from Australia. Coming there had been her first mistake. Then there was a crash, like the plane just fell apart in midair. And now….now she was here. Here with a bunch of bodies.

Just her god awful luck.

She should have known that everything was going to end up like this- being stranded on some sort of deserted island. Ryan was known to have the shittiest luck, and this was just another testimony to that. But maybe it was better this way. She's rather have an island be the death of her then die at the hands of a human. Man was so….unforgiving. She rather liked the idea of just falling into a deep sleep in this sun-drenched place and being in peace forever more. She lay down and smiled, giving up on the long, endless fight that was her life. Maybe it was best to just let go…..

"Are you going to sunbathe or are you going to help me?"

A voice cut into Ryan's thoughts and she scowled. Who was interrupting her deathbed? She opened her eyes and saw a man standing above of her. She frowned a bit and closed them again.

"Go away, I'm trying to die" she said, her voice a bit hoarse. She heard a small chuckle above of her.

"Well don't let me interrupt you" the man said, not moving.

"You already have" Ryan pointed out, opening her eyes once more and bringing herself into a sitting position. There really was no point of trying to die now- the man had ruined the little illusion for her. God, Ryan couldn't even get her death to go right…..she was so pathetic.

"What do you want?" she asked the man, still scowling a bit.

"Is it too much to ask if you have any medical experience" he said to her, knowing that she probably didn't. She looked too young to know much about anything, she was probably still in high school…

"My father was a doctor in the army, he read me medical journals for bedtime stories and took me into the operating room instead of daycare" she said, her voice quite flat. The man looked at her with eyebrows raised and Ryan shrugged. It was true…

"Okay then, if you could help me take care of the people here" he said, waving a hand at the bodies. Ryan nodded resolutely, getting up.

"Sure" she said, looking at he bodies in distaste. She was never one to disappoint a person in need, but bodies….not really her favorite. The man nodded at her.

"I'm Jack" he said, holding out his hand.

"Ryan" she said, shaking it before looking back at the bodies.

"You take the ones on the beach, I'm going into the jungle thing over there to see if anybody is there" he said, and she nodded once again. He walked of and Ryan found herself on a beach with a bunch of bodies….lovely. She walked over to the one nearest to her and knew even before listening for a heartbeat that it was dead. She did, however, do the mandatory pulse check and concluded that her reasoning was correct. She then looked at the body for a good two minutes, wondering what to do with it.

"You need help?" a man's voice said behind her. Ryan whipped around to find a quite….rotund man behind her.

"No, I'm fine" she answered quickly. She didn't like when people assumed that she couldn't do things for herself. She was a lot stronger than people realized. The man shrugged slightly.

"Whatever, you know- there's a lot more people over there" he said, pointing to another stretch of the beach. "People who are, like, alive" he added. Ryan sighed with relief. She would much rather be around alive people. The guy smiled at her.

"Here, I'll show you" he said, leading her over to the stretch, she followed after him like a little lost puppy dog.

"So, what were you doing on the plane? Where you alone?" the man asked her, obviously trying to make small talk. Ryan stiffened a bit.

"Yes, I was alone" she said, her English accented voice coming out a bit strained. The man didn't seem to notice since he went rambling on.

"You look a bit too young to be traveling on your own" he said, looking at her reproachfully. Ryan's jade eyes darkened a bit. God, what was up with everybody assuming that she was still in primary school?

"I'm eighteen- officially an adult" she said defensively. The man nodded a bit.

"Sure you are" he said quickly "I didn't mean to like, offend you" he said.

"I know" Ryan said simply, as she saw the "alive people" that the man was talking about. And what an odd group they were, but they didn't seem to need any medical attention . Ryan looked over at the man beside her.

"Thank you" she said quietly. The man winked at her.

"Hurley at your service" he answered and Ryan smiled.

"And what may we call you?" he asked her

"Ryan" she answered, looking at the people. There was a very pregnant lady among them and Ryan started to feel a bit apprehensive. Pregnant ladies were so much harder to take care of….

"Ryan" Hurley repeated simply, looking at the little girl beside him. She was medium height, about 5'6, 5'7 with long black hair and a pixie type face with huge green-gray eyes that made her look even younger than eighteen. And she was thin, too thin, and looked like those porcelain dolls that he had seen in a shop window before. Hurley decided that she needed food- bad. In fact- he needed food badly as well. He looked at the people around him.

"Does anybody have any food?' Hurley asked hopefully but was met with blank stares. Right then the pregnant lady cried out and clutched her stomach. Ryan rushed towards her, praying that she wasn't in labor. She couldn't deliver babies! She didn't even like babies!

"Are…are you okay" Ryan asked the lady, her voice coming out with a bit of effort. The lady nodded slightly.

" It hurts sometimes" she answered, her voice pained. Ryan searched the pockets of her jacket. She extracted a small bottle of aspirin, amazed that it was till there, and even more amazed that it was still closed. She opened the bottle and dropped the remaining two into her palm. She gave them to the lady.

"Here- take these. I'm afraid I don't have any water to go with them" Ryan said, pushing the two pills into the woman's hands. The lady gratefully swallowed them, not even asking why Ryan had aspirin with her. Not that Ryan would have answered her if she did ask… she leaned back slightly and closed her eyes. Another crisis averted for now.

"Are you a doctor" another voice asked her. Ryan groaned again. No, she wasn't a doctor! She despised medicine! Why in the world had she agreed to help Jack? She opened her eyes and found herself looking into a pair of concerned, blue gray eyes. She stood up straight, and swept her eyes over the person in front of her, looking for signs of any major injuries. She first noticed that the man was devastatingly hot. Then she noticed that he seemed to be unharmed. Pity… she wouldn't have minded patching him up.

"You don't seem to be hurt" she said slowly.

"It's not me, it's Shannon, she refuses to…" Ah, Shannon. So the guy was hot and taken. Again with Ryan's wonderful luck.

"Where is she" Ryan asked, exasperated, cutting the man off in mid-sentence. He pointed to the water where a blonde lady sat, looking off into the water.

"She refuses to believe that we're stranded" he said, sounding just as exasperated as Ryan.

"I'm not a physiatrist" Ryan said, looking at the man. He frowned slightly.

"Are you saying you can't help?" he asked her. Ryan sighed once more. God, why did everybody expect so much out of her.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked the man incredulously.

"I don't know- you're the doctor!" he countered angrily.

"I'm not even a real doctor!" she answered back, watching as his face fell a bit.

"I thought you looked too young" he said, angering Ryan more than anything else on this island had managed to anger her. Her eyes flashed and her mouth set into a grim line.

"I am not a baby, I am not young and I can take of any problem you or any other god damn dense person thrusts upon me!" she exploded, pivoting on her heels and rushing towards blonde little Shannon. Screw this whole island and everybody on it! Ryan heard footsteps behind her as the man caught up with her once again.

"What the hell was that?' he asked, sounding shocked. Ryan didn't even turn around to look at him when she answered.

"I am not young, nor incapable" she said resolutely. "I can take care of myself and everyone else on this island if need be" she added. The man looked at her, the tiny little fireball that was half his weight and for some reason believed her. She was the type of person that he would feel okay to protect him, a person who had lived their whole life fighting and clawing and could beat the hell out of any thing that came their way. It would have been sad if it wasn't as weird.

Ryan walked over to Shannon and sat down beside her. The lady gave Ryan a one over and turned towards the man.

"Boone, why the hell did you bring some middle school girl over here?" Shannon asked. Ryan felt her blood boil, but kept it in check.

"He asked me to help you" Ryan answered curtly. Shannon turned around to Ryan.

"And how are you supposed to help me?" Shannon asked. There was no way in hell this little twelve year old was going to help her. Like she even needed help….

Ryan turned and faced Shannon, her face set.

"Listen, I'm not going to try to make you believe anything that you don't want to. I'm just here to tell you the straight facts. We're stranded, we're lost, and we've all got our problems" Ryan said "Will we ever be rescued? Most likely. Will we die? Probably. I can't tell. All I know is that we are here and you need to face that fact and try to keep yourself alive because I've got a beach full of dead people and a pregnant lady to take care of and I can't waste all my time trying to convince a person like you to get off your high horse and face facts" Ryan said, getting up and walking away from Shannon, feeling the girl's burning gaze on her back. Hurley then showed up, food in his arms.

"Guess what I found in the plane galley! Food, now we can……" his voice trailed off when he was a very vexed Shannon giving a murderous glare to an angry looking Ryan, and a confused Boone looking on at the whole scene.

"Can't I leave you guys alone for one minute?" Hurley asked, sighing.

**So, what do you think? Please review and tell me- I appreciate it! I will be getting up part two shortly- I just need to make a few adjustments on it.**


	2. What happened on the Beach part 2

**Author's Note: Okay, so here is the promised second half of the first chapter. Like always, please review and tell me what you think about the story. I love your feedback- it keeps me writing. Well, Enjoy part 2!**

What happened on the beach (Part Two)

The night was peaceful for the survivors, compared to what they had just experienced during that day. Ryan sat by herself near the shore, her head rested against a pile of wreckage. She had spent most of the day trying to mend people's minor cuts and bruises and making sure Shannon didn't kill her. Meanwhile, Shannon was sitting next to Boone, shooting Ryan venomous looks.

"Who the hell is she to tell me I'm on a high horse?" Shannon spat angrily. Boone sighed and looked wearily at his sister. He had heard her complain about Ryan all day long now.

"Listen Shannon, she was trying to help" Boone explained for the millionth time.

"By basically calling me a conceited snob!" Shannon cried.

"Well that wouldn't be a lie" Boone said back, becoming irritated with her. Shannon snorted and looked back at Ryan.

"Like she has any right saying I'm on my high horse- I mean look at her" Shannon said in disgust. Boone looked over at tiny little Ryan huddled by herself. Her long black hair flowed down her back and she was looking serenely into the water.

"What's wrong with her?" Boone asked.

"Her clothes!" Shannon cried. Boone once again looked at Ryan, seeing nothing unusual about her outfit. She was wearing a gray tank top, black jeans with a satiny ribbon as a belt and had a black and blue jacket at her feet.

"What's wrong with the clothes?" he asked Shannon, who just rolled her eyes.

"Her tank top is Juicy Couture, her jeans are Armani, and her jacket is polo" Shannon said irately. "She's obviously the one who is living on a high horse. That outfit costs more than my whole wardrobe" she moaned. Boone shook his head and leaned back once again. Leave it to Shannon to notice something as completely irrelevant as someone's outfit. But nonetheless, Boone wondered what type of Background Ryan came from if she could afford such outfits.

Suddenly a noise came from the jungle, disrupting everybody's thoughts. Ryan sprung up on her feet and was followed by Jack.

"What the hell was that?" Ryan asked and Lack shrugged.

"Maybe there are more people in the woods- I should go check" Jack said.

"I'll come with you- you might need help" Ryan said, a bit apprehensive.

"No- it's too dark. Wait until tomorrow to go" Ryan and jack turned around to find Michael, another survivor. He was sitting on the sand, his son Walt by his side.

"That's right docs, you two don't want to get hurt-what would we do with ya?" said, Sawyer, a man who was sitting next to Michael. Ryan had treated Sawyer for mild cuts a while before and had taken an immediate dislike to the man. His brashness annoyed her to no end.

"Maybe they are right" Jack said. Ryan turned on him immediately.

"There are people in there who need our help! Are you going to ignore them?" Ryan asked him, eyes wide.

"There is no point getting ourselves hurt while trying to find them. We can look tomorrow when it's light again" Jack said calmly.

"What if they are seriously injured? They could die by the time daylight comes" Alex said, starting to worry.

"Then they have to die. We can't go now" Jack said resolutely, sitting down. Ryan looked at him in amazement before starting off towards the jungle.

"I am going to go look for them" she said, resolute. She couldn't let people die, not now. Not when she had caused so many deaths before….

"Ryan- think this over" called Hurley form where he was sitting. Ryan faltered a bit. She turned around and faced the man. Hurley was a person whom Ryan trusted somewhat. He actually seemed genuine, a rarity. Not that Ryan let herself trust him completely. She had already learned the hard way to never give full trust to anybody. It always led to pain and disaster at the end.

"Why?' she asked him.

"Listen, we need both you and Jack to stay here. You are the only two that know squat about medicine and things." He said "people might get hurt and who will be here to help Jack. Not to mention, we need you when Claire has the kid" Hurley said. Ryan contemplated the words for a moment before realizing that they were true. She nodded slightly at Hurley. The people here needed her than the people in the jungle did. Ryan went back to her place near the water and rested for a moment. She really needed to regain her cool. She closed her eyes, meaning to get a short fifteen minute rest to build up her strength again.

Ryan opened her eyes and found herself staring at….blue sky. _Shit_ she thought getting up. She had fallen asleep. Ryan looked around hurriedly, trying to find Jack. They were supposed to go into the jungle today.

"Good morning sleepyhead"

Ryan turned around to find Rose, a nice African American woman that she had taken care of the day before. Rose gave her a mango, which Ryan took and hesitantly took a bite of. She didn't really trust the local food.

"Where's Jack?" Ryan asked.

"He went into the jungle" Rose said "he didn't want to ruin your sleep so he took Kate and Charlie with him" she added. "He also wanted you to stay behind, in case anything happened, you know- with Claire or the rest of us" Rose said. Ryan nodded slightly. She wasn't angry at Jack for leaving her behind. It was probably better that way. There had to be somebody on the beach to take care of the people if things went wrong- especially with Claire. Ryan had promised Jack yesterday that she would take care of Claire, even though she hated the thought of having to birth a baby. It was just too awkward.

Ryan went forward to the water and sat, letting the cool waves dance at her feet as she slowly ate the mango. Ryan needed the food, and the fruit was very sweet and surprisingly good.

"Do you have more of those?" Ryan turned around and found Boone next to her. Oh goody, just what she needed another confrontation.

"No, Rose gave this to me" Ryan said, trying the keep her voice pleasant and civil. She looked over Boone's shoulder to see if Shannon was there. Thankfully she wasn't.

"Listen, I'm sorry for what I said to Shannon yesterday" Ryan started, but Boone waved her comment away.

"Don't be. Shannon can be a bit of a bitch sometimes" Boone said, sitting next to Ryan, who nodded slightly at Boone's comment. She noticed the way that Boone kept a pleasant voice when talking about Shannon, even when he was saying bas things about her.

"You really like her, don't you?" Ryan asked. Boone looked at her, slightly surprised.

"Yeah, I do" Boone said. Ryan looked back at the waters. It must be nice, she thought, having someone to like as much as Boone liked Shannon. But to be liked, one must like back and Ryan doubted she would ever like another member of the human race again, not after the whole incident with Sam.

"What kind of name is Ryan? Is it your real name?" she heard Boone ask. A small smile tugged on Ryan's lips. She had been asked that question multiple times before.

"What kind of name is Boone? Is that _your_ real name?" Ryan countered.

"Yes, My full name is Boone Carlyle. And yours is?" Boone asked.

"Ryannon Rousseau" Ryan answered.

Ryannon- that's an unusual name" Bone mussed.

"It's Irish, Gaelic" she said, shrugging her slight shoulders. Boone saw that she had a tattoo on one of her shoulders. It was a bar code with the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 underneath it. Boone was curious as to what the numbers meant, but didn't want to question her further. It seemed as though she was already tightly sprung as it was. Just then Claire called out to Ryan, saying she needed help.

"My patient awaits me" Ryan said, getting up. She nodded curtly at Boone before walking over to Claire. Boone nodded back to the girl's receding figure before looking back out into the sea.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. Ryan helped Jin and his wife, Sun, fish, and listened as Walt read a comic book to her- all while keeping a close eye on Claire. Sayid, an Iraqi man, came for a while to help her look after Claire and Hurley and Rose were always willing to lend a helping hand. There was another man, by a name that no one knew- that was sitting on the beach by himself. They didn't want to bother him, though, since he looked so serene and happy where he was. Sawyer, the arrogant man, was off sulking by himself and Ryan didn't want to bother with him either. Sayid suggested that they clean up the wreckage and build a small shelter out of it. Everybody got t work, trying to get up the shelter before nightfall. And what good timing it was as well. Just as night fell, the heavens opened up and rain poured down on the island. The survivors huddled under the makeshift shelter they had created, all anxiously awaiting the return of Jack, Kate, and Charlie. Ryan noticed the man who was sitting by himself on the beach before. He was still sitting, getting drenched, his arms outstretched. Feeling worried, Ryan got up.

"I'm going to go get that man over there" she said to the others as she stepped outside the shelter. As soon the drops of rain hit her face, an old memory that Ryan had been trying so hard to forget came surfacing back to her.

_It was a cold night, colder than any other she had felt before. The rain was pounding down on her like a million little daggers, and the wetness of the felt foreign on Ryan's face. She was huddled up against a phone booth, her breath coming out in short, small puffs. There was a bad cut on her thought and she was afraid that she was going to die here, in this tiny god forsaken village. Her body was rot here on the streets and nobody would notice. Gathering up her strength, Ryan went into the phone booth. She searched her jacket pocket for change and put the coins into the machine while checking her watch. _

_1:00 AM. It read, its sickly green glow reflected in her eyes. Ryan dialed the familiar number and clutched the phone to her ears, as though it was her lifeline. _

"_Hullo" a groggy, male voice sounded from the other end. _

"_Sam" Ryan breathed, blood flowing from her wound. _

"_Ryan! What are you doing? Do you know what time it is?" she heard Sam ask. _

"_Sam, help" she said weakly. Just then a car turned the street corner. She recognized it instantly and her eyes widened in fear. She turned her back to the car, hoping that her long, floor length coat would disguise her. The car swept past the phone booth and Ryan gave off a sigh of relieve._

"_Ryan, what's happening?" Sam asked her, his voice concerned. _

"_I need you to come here- they've killed them, both of them" Ryan muttered. _

"_Who Ryan? Who were the people and who did they kill?" Sam asked. _

"_Sam come- please, I'm losing…I'm losing you" Ryan said weakly, feeling the black creep into her eyes. _

"_I'm coming" she heard Sam say as she slumped against the phone booth,_ _unconscious._

Ryan cleared the memory from her head as she walked towards the man on the beach. How long would it take for her to stop balking at the sight of rain? How long would it take for the most innocent things to stop bringing back horrible memories? Ryan knelt beside the man.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Never better" he answered, looking over to her, a smile on his face. For some reason, Ryan felt safe with this man, as though he was a person who knew what he was doing and knew what he wanted. Ryan nodded at the man.

"Do you need anything Mister….." she asked

"Locke, John Locke" the man answered. Ryan smiled a bit.

"Stop, Traveler! Near this place lieth John Locke. If you ask what kind of a man he was, he answers that he lived content with his own small fortune. Bred a scholar, he made his learning subservient only to the cause of truth" She quipped, stealing a quote from the epitaph of the philosopher John Locke. The Locke nest to her smiled.

"You know your philosophy" he stated.

"I know a lot of things" Ryan answered back, causing Locke to smile more broadly.

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the shelter, Locke, It's a lot dryer" Ryan said. Locke shook his head.

"I'll stay here for a bit longer" he said. Ryan nodded as she headed back towards the shelter.

"I'll put out a place for you, in case you change your mind" Ryan said to him.

"I appreciate it" Locke answered. Ryan returned to the shelter.

"He didn't want to come?" Claire asked. Ryan shook her head.

"That's weird" Claire said.

"I think there are a lot of things on this island that can be classified as weird" Ryan said, shaking her head. The rest of the members in the shelter nodded to themselves. This island was indeed a mystery. And on the beach, all alone Locke smiled to himself as he flexed his toes, basking in the wondrous revelation that had come upon him. Weird was definitely the right world to use……..


	3. The Suprise of a Lifetime

**Author's Note: Okay- this is the chapter where I add in a bit of a twist. Hope you guys like it. And, as always- please review. I love your feedback and suggestions. Where do you guys want to see the story go? I am always glad to listen to what you say…**

**Chapter 3: The Surprise of a Lifetime**

Daylight couldn't have come soon enough. The rising of the sun heralded the return of the three stragglers that had wondered off into the jungle the day before. Ryan stood by the edge of where the sand met the stall grass to meet them. Kate came out first, gasping and panting and looking widely frazzled.

"Pilot… hanging on the tree… dead" she breathed out. Ryan took hold of the shaking woman and lowered her down to the sand. She looked up as Jack and Charlie came into view. Jack looked disturbed and Charlie looked oddly detached- he reminded her of those heroin addicts she had seen one night on the streets of London. She looked up at them, question written all over her green-gray eyes.

"It's the pilot, he was killed" Jack said soberly.

"Killed?" Ryan asked, her eyes huge. Jack nodded morosely.

"Killed by what? Are there wild animals here?" Ryan asked the man.

"Seems like it. We need to be on guard, maybe find a few weapons" Jack said, his eyebrows creased together. Ryan nodded slightly. She had found a nice piece of driftwood last night that she thought would be perfect to make a small dagger- or a slingshot.

"I'll take care of Kate" Jack said flatly. Ryan nodded slightly, leaving Kate to Jack and starting to leave back to the beach.

"Ryan wait- we found this" Jack called out. Ryan turned around and saw him holding a small transmission device. "It seems to be broken- maybe you can find somebody to fix it" Jack said, handing it to her. Ryan took it from him and examined it.

"I think I know the right person for this" she said slightly, walking over to the beach where Sayid was sitting, showing Boone different pieces of oddly shaped metal from the wreckage.

"Um, Sayid…" Ryan said hesitantly, hoping she wasn't ruining anything. Sayid looked up at her.

"Yes?" he asked, his accent thick.

"Jack found this near the plane- I thought you could fix it" she said. Sayid took the device from her and looked it over.

"It's a transmission device" Sayid said, incredulously.

"Yes" Ryan said "can you fix it?" she asked him. Sayid laughed a bit.

"I was a communications officer" Sayid said lightly, while he started to tinker with the device. Ryan's eyes grew wide.

"So was my mum. She worked with the British command" Ryan said, smiling slightly.

"I worked with the Iraqi Republican Guard" Sayid said tightly, wondering whether or not Ryan or Boone was going to crack any sort of terrorist comment. Sawyer had already accused him of hijacking the plane.

Ryan's large eyes lit up with excitement. She turned to Sayid, talking in perfect, fluent Arabic. Sayid and Boone both stared at the girl then at each other.

"You…you speak Arabic?" Sayid asked, confused but thoroughly pleased with this turn of events.

"I moved a lot as a kid. I lived in Saudi Arabia for two years." Ryan said, shifting a little. She always got uncomfortable when talking about her past.

"What else can you speak?" Boone asked her. Ryan sighed a bit.

"Japanese and a bit of Gaelic" Ryan said. Japanese she had picked up from her three years in Tokyo and Gaelic she had picked up from her mother, who was a quarter Irish and a quarter Chinese. Her father had spoke French, but he had died before she really even knew him. It seemed like Sayid was about to say something, but Hurley interrupted them.

"Um. Ryan, Jack- I think you need to come here" Hurley called. Ryan nodded towards the two men next to her and went over to Hurley, Jack hot on her heels. Hurley was standing next to the body of a man who was in obvious pain.

"Oh, god" Ryan said, looking at the man, who was bleeding all over the sand. Jack whistled a bit.

"I guess we need to get to work" he said. "but first, we need to find antibiotics" he said. Jack had never performed a surgery in the open on a beach before, and he wasn't about to do it without a plentiful stash of medicine by his side. Jack, Ryan, and Hurley all spent the next two and a half hours finding any medicine of use. Sun even gave Ryan a herbal remedy that she had made out of some of the plants she found near the jungle. Ryan didn't know if it would help- but it was worth a try.

By the time that they had gotten all of the medicine, Sayid had fixed the transmission device. They started to organize a party of people who would go into the jungle to try to get a reception.

"Go with them Ryan" Jack said to her. Ryan turned around and faced Jack.

"But you need help" she said. Jack shook his head.

"Nah- I've got Hurley here. I think the others need you- in case something happens to them while they are in the jungle" Jack said. Hurley nodded in agreement. Ryan smiled a bit. She had wanted to go into the jungle, actually. She had a natural sense of adventure and there was something about the jungle that called to her.

The team had come together- Sayid, Charlie, Shannon, Boone, Ryan, and Kate. They went into the jungle, wary where they stepped. There was still a wild animal out there somewhere, and no one wanted to take a chance. Ryan walked ahead of the group, trying to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

"Do you hear anything odd?" Shannon said all of the sudden.

"Do you?" Ryan asked apprehensive. She even forgot for a minute that she and Shannon were fast enemies.

"Yes" Shannon said, whispering- her voice quavering a bit.

"It's probably just the wind, Shannon" Boone said. "You always make a big deal out of small things." He added.

"Wait- I hear it too" Kate said softly. All of them stopped and waited for a second. All of the sudden a flash of white fur appeared above them.

"Everybody down!" Ryan said hurriedly just as a gun shot went off. They all got up and saw Sawyer, a gun in his hand.

"Where did you get that?" Ryan asked.

"A polar bear!" Boone said, his tone amazed.

"What?" Everybody asked, turning to him.

"A Polar Bear!" Boone repeated, pointing the "monster" that Sawyer had just shot. They all turned around and saw the bear.

"What…the…hell" Charlie dragged, voicing everybody's thoughts.

"Where are we?" Shannon asked.

"Well, if we knew that then we wouldn't be lost" Ryan said as Shannon shot her another dirty look.

"I think what Miss Shannon is wondering is why there was a polar bear on a tropical island" Sayid said.

"I think we are all wondering that" Boone said, his eyes still riveting on the bear. Ryan, too was looking at it. There was something oddly familiar about it, as though she had seen it not that long ago.

"Walt" she whispered, not really understanding why she said his name. But she had remembered Walt for some reason when she saw the bear.

"You guys- I've got a transmission!" Kate called, causing everybody to leave the polar bear. They surrounded Kate, listening to the voice on the communication device. The voice was slightly distorted, but the words were understandable. Well…actually they weren't understandable at all. The were in French.

"God dammit" Charlie whispered. "Does anyone here happen to know French?" he asked.

"I know a bit" Shannon offered. They all looked at Shannon expectantly. She took the radio and listened to it.

"I can't understand all of it… something about being alone…and 16… and killing" she said, her forehead wrinkled in concentration.

"God Shannon, why do you always have to be so useless?" Boone asked, his voice not at all pleasant. Shannon gave him a withering look, but she seemed somewhat hurt.

"I'm alone now, on the island alone. Please someone come. The others are dead. It killed them. It killed them all." Shannon said, after the twelfth time she heard the massage.

"Are you sure?" Sawyer asked her. Shannon nodded. Sayid looked thoughtfully at her.

"Then whoever left the message must have been on this island for about sixteen years then" he said.

"But who is it? Is she still here?" Kate asked.

"Most probably dead" Charlie said, quite morbidly. He was always slightly morbid when he was buzzed.

"Um, guys- what's wrong with Ryan?" Boone asked. They all turned to the small girl who was staring at the transmission device- her eyes wider than they had ever been. Her mouth was slightly ajar and there was a look of pure surprise on her face.

"What's wrong?" Boone asked her.

"That…that voice, on the transmission" Ryan blurted.

"What about it?" Sayid asked.

"That's my aunt" she said. They all looked at her as though she was crazy.

"Your aunt?" Sawyer asked.

"Danielle Rousseau. She and my uncle left when I was two on some sort of scientific exploration. I don't remember her much- but I heard her talking on my parent's wedding video. That's her voice I'm certain of it." Ryan said. "She left me this key before she left" she added, tugging on a golden chain on her neck. On the chain there was a small locket and a golden key with numbers written down the side.

"Your aunt left when you were two? And that would be…" Kate asked.

"Sixteen years ago" Ryan said softly. The silence that rippled through the group was almost deafening.

"Whoa" Charlie said, and everybody nodded in agreement. This island was just getting weirder and weirder.


	4. Digging a Grave

**A/N**: Its senior graduation time everybody! And even though I'm still a junior- yeah I'm young, I've still got a bunch of graduation parties to attend so please excuse my writing because I have a perma-hangover from all the Bailey's that my friends seem to serve at their parties.

But, all that aside, here's the next chapter- enjoy and review please!

**Chapter 4: Digging a Grave**

The group straggled back to the beach, silent as the grave, weighed under the new knowledge that had just been bestowed on them. Jack met them on the shore, a weary expression on his face and a pair of handcuffs in his hand. Kate blanched at the sight if him and Sawyer tried to hide his gun from Jack's questioning eyes. Ryan walked up to the older man.

"There's nothing I can do for him" Jack said, answering Ryan's silent question. The girl nodded, knowing that it must be hard for Jack to admit that he didn't have the power to save the man.

"What does he want you to do?" Ryan asked. Jack's face went dark and he scowled.

"He wants me to kill him" Jack answered. Sawyer immediately looked up and held his gun out.

"I'll be glad to help" he said and Jack's expression turned even darker. Ryan sensed a fight brewing up between the two and decided to take the role as a good girl intervener.

"Now, Jack" she said, trying to keep her voice level and reasonable. "Maybe you should let Sawyer do this. It's what the man wants, and even you said there was nothing you could do to save him" Ryan said. Jack still had a scowl on his face but he nodded. The girl's reasoning made sense and as much as he hated it, he knew that it was what needed to be done.

Taking Jack's nod as all the approval her needed, Sawyer walked over to the man, followed by the doctor and the small girl. He found the man lying on the beach, Hurley next to him.

"Get out of the way" Sawyer said, aiming his gun at the body below him.

"Where did you get that gun?" Hurley asked Sawyer.

"From him" Sawyer answered, pointing to the bloody body before shooting him square in the chest, away from any vital organs. That shot wouldn't kill the man, but it would put him in even more pain. Jack let out an irritable sigh but Ryan was a bit more…vocal with her feelings.

"You dense idiot! Can't you even kill a person correctly!" she cried out, her British accent coming out even stronger with her anger.

"Calm down Brit" Sawyer said "I was just a bit off"

"A bit!" Ryan said with a short, hysterical laugh "If you were any more off you would have shot yourself- which would have been a far more useful thing for you to have done!" she said. Sawyer gaped at her and Jack decided it was time for him play the diplomat.

"Listen- Sawyer give me the gun- I'll kill the man. Ryan you go dig a grave where e can bury him once I'm done. Hurley- go find me some cloth to wrap him up in" Jack said tensely, ripping the gun from Sawyer's hand and shooting stern looks at Ryan and Hurley. Ryan felt that Jack reminded her of her dad- the strict doctor who liked to give orders and maintain tidiness. She nodded morosely at Jack and headed towards a stretch of the beach that was shaded by trees. It was a nice place, cool and calm with wildflowers growing all around- a perfect place for a grave. She found a large branch on the ground which she knew would make a very crude, but workable shovel, and started to dig. A cool sea breeze flew over Ryan's small frame and a slight smile touched her lips. Even though she was stranded on a godforsaken island, digging a grave for a man who was now probably dying of a gunshot wound, Ryan felt vaguely elated. Beached did that to her, she loved them and couldn't help but feel at home on the golden sands.

"Do you need help?"

Ryan looked up to find Locke and Boone, with braches like hers in their hands. Ryan smiled at them.

"Sure" she said, looking down at the progress she had made- which wasn't very impressive. Boone and Locke started to dig next to her.

"So what are we digging?" Locke asked.

"We're digging a grave" Ryan answered, chuckling at the bemused expressions of Boone and Locke's faces.

"A grave?" Boone asked, confused. Ryan nodded and the three continued their work in silence, not really sure what to say next.

"So I hear your aunt's on the island" Locke said, trying to break the silence.

"That's what it seems like" Ryan said, concentrating on her digging, "I don't really know her that well, though, she was on my dad's side of the family" she added.

"You aren't very close to your dad's family?" Locke asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"My dad died a month before I was born- so I never even saw him. The only family he had was aunt Danielle and her husband, and they left when I was two" Ryan said, not really knowing why she was telling these two people all of this. "Mother remarried to a British doctor when I turned three" she added.

"Any siblings?" Locke asked.

"I've got a stepbrother named Daniel- but I've never seen him. Lives up in Switzerland" she said, lying through her teeth. Oh she knew Daniel all right, that sly, conniving little bastard. But she didn't need to let Boone and Locke into her life _that _much.

"So what were you doing in Australia" Bone asked. Ryan sighed. Did these two men know nothing about privacy?"

"I was working" she said flatly, trying to show she wasn't interested in the topic.

"And what do you do?" Boone asked, causing Ryan to sigh once more. Obviously her tone of voice hadn't worker as well as she hoped it would have.

"I wait" she said plainly.

"Wait? As in a waitress?" Boone asked. Ryan shook her head.

"There are different types of waiting" she said.

"None of which you are going to inform me of" Boone retorted, grinning slightly.

"You are smarter than you look" Ryan retorted back at him. Locke shook his head at the mild bickering between the two youths.

"You seem like you'd be in university" Locke said to Ryan, noting her young appearance.

"I graduated last year. I was home schooled, and dad taught me way too far ahead of normal curriculum. By the time I went to university, I only needed one year to graduate" Ryan said, laughing slightly, though sad feeling crept up her thought. Oh, how she had hated those long grueling hours of work she did with her father looking at her over her shoulders. But now, she would give anything to relive those days, when her whole family was healthy and alive and together.

"What did you major in?" Locke asked.

"What is this- some type of interrogation?" Ryan asked. Seriously, what was up with all these questions?

"No, I was just curious" Locke said. Ryan nodded, a bit embarrassed at her outburst.

"Social science and military tactics" she answered. Locke almost laughed at the thought f the small, frail-looking girl in front of him studying military tactics. How out of place she must have been with the rest of the class. Locke's heart went out to her; he knew how it felt to be that odd one out. He knew oh too well.

"What were you doing in Australia" Ryan asked, turning the tables.

"I was going to go on a walkabout, but it was…cancelled" Locke said. Ryan nodded sympathetically. What a waste! She turned to Boone, and asked the same question.

"I was taking my sister back home to L.A" Boone answered.

"You have a sister!" Ryan said surprised, mentally chastising herself for saying that as soon as it came out of her mouth. If she hadn't seen Boone's sister here then it probably meant she died in the crash. Boone, instead of looking devastated, though, gave a confused look at Ryan.

"Sure I do. Shannon, my step-sister" Boone said, causing Ryan to laugh.

"She's your sister?" she said, shaking her head.

"Ummm….yes" Boone answered, not really knowing where this was going.

"How do you put up with her?" Ryan asked, her large, green-gray eyes dancing.

"A lot of aspirin" Boone answered, causing Ryan to crack a smile. Ah yes, aspirin- it had proved to be her lifesaver on many occasions before.

"You three seem to be almost done"

Ryan, Boone, and Locke all looked up and saw Jack standing in front of them. Ryan looked back down at the grave, which was a fairly reasonable size. She didn't even notice that they had finished it.

Hurley waked towards the grave, holding a body swathed in blue plastic cloth. A group of people walked behind him, curious to see the funeral. It wasn't a big event really. Hurley lowered the body, Boone covered it with soil, and Sun placed a few flowers she had picked on the fresh grave, a sign of her paying respect to the departed men. Then, feeling as though their responsibilities were done with, everybody started to disperse. Ryan decided to go look for her bag in the plane rubble when Jack called her over. She went up to the man who took two pictures out of his pocket.

"The marshal gave these to me before he died" Jack said, giving the pictures out to Ryan. She took them and looked at the first. It was a mug shot. Of Kate. Ryan blinked a few times, not believing what she saw. Kate, a criminal? It didn't seem right. But Ryan was never known for her excellent judge of character. She looked over at the next picture, another mug shot, and immediately paled. Looking back up at her with a smug smile on his face was a handsome, familiar, sadistic face. Underneath the picture written in scribbles were the words:

_Daniel Hartsfield._

Ryan dropped it, watching in cold silence as the picture of her step-brother floated to the sandy ground.


End file.
